1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information reproduction apparatus and to a method for erasing program data. In particular, the present invention relates to an information reproduction apparatus that provides, for a user, information for requesting a user to select program data to be erased from a large capacity recording medium, such as a hard disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information reproduction apparatuses are presently available that record, and reproduce, program data on large capacity recording media, such as hard disks. When fitted with a hard disk, by employing a variety of formats one of these information reproduction apparatuses can be used to compress program data stored as music content on a recording medium, such as a CD, and to load the compressed data on the hard disk for later reproduction.
Current, typical compression methods include MP3 (MPEG: Moving Picture Experts Group; audio layer III) and ATRAC3, an improved version of ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) that when uses to process data requiring one minute to produce yields compressed data equivalent to a storage capacity of 1 M bytes. Thus, assuming that this compression method is employed for musical renditions having reproduction times of five minutes, and assuming that the hard disk in this case has a storage capacity of 10 G bytes, an information reproduction apparatus can record the data for 2000 pieces of music.
As is described above, an information reproduction apparatus for reproducing program data stored on a large capacity medium, such as a hard disk, can be usefully employed for recording a large quantity of program data.
However, since a large quantity of program data can be stored on a hard disk, unnecessary data, including music content that is seldom reproduced, may be retained for an extended period of time. Further, if unnecessary program data is permitted to accumulate, even when a large capacity recording medium is used a point will be reached at which a shortage of space precludes the further storage of data, including the latest music content.
To avoid the occurrence of this problem, a user must manipulate a predetermined key to erase from a hard disk program data such as unnecessary music content.
That is, in order to delete program data recorded on a hard disk, a user must first select an erase mode. The user must then manipulate a track select key, or a forward or backward key, to search for program data to be deleted; and when such program data is found, to erase that data from the hard disk the user must manipulate an execute key.
As is described above, in order to find program data for deletion from a hard disk, a user must search for the program data to be deleted through a large amount of data. Thus, when at first no relevant program data is found, the user must repeat the manipulation of the track select key, or of the forward or backward key, a process requiring the expenditure of a great deal of time and effort.
Further, when a shortage of hard disk capacity has occurred, the user cannot quickly delete unnecessary data to obtain additional free space, so that program data, such as the latest music content, can not be promptly recorded on the hard disk.
To resolve the shortcoming, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information reproduction apparatus and program data deletion method that calculates information to be used as an index for erasing program data such as reproduction frequency, to permit the user to efficiently select for deletion program data recorded on the hard disk.
To achieve this objective, according to the present invention, an information reproduction apparatus, for reproducing program data stored on a recording medium, comprises:
reproducing means for reproducing program data on a recording medium on which are stored the program data and identification information for the program data;
erasing means for erasing the program data from the recording medium;
reproduction frequency calculation means for calculating reproduction frequency information for each set of program data by employing a variety of information obtained by reproducing the program data; and
control means for displaying, at the least, the identification information and the reproduction frequency information, and for erasing from the recording medium program data that has been identified by referring to the identification information selected by a user.
The variety of information includes reproduction time data, which is obtained by the addition of each set of program data each time the program data is reproduced by the reproducing means, and total reproduction time data, which is obtained by adding the reproduction time data.
The variety of information includes reproduction count data, which is obtained by the addition of data, for each set of program data, each time the program data is reproduced by the reproducing means, and total reproduction count data, which is obtained by adding the total reproduction count data.
The reproduction frequency calculation means employs the reproduction time data and the total reproduction time data to obtain a reproduction time ratio for each set of the program data.
The reproduction frequency calculation means employs the reproduction count data and the reproduction count total to obtain the reproduction count ratio for each set of the program data.
The reproduction time data and the reproduction count data are obtained by the incrementation of the program data up to the final position of it.
According to the thus arranged information reproduction apparatus of the invention, the reproduction frequency information is calculated for each set of program data by using a variety of information that is obtained (updated) when the program data is reproduced by the reproducing means. When the reproduction frequency information and the identification information for identifying the program data that are displayed on the display means, the user is requested to select the program data to be erased.
With this arrangement, the user need only visually confirm the reproduction frequency information to efficiently select the program data that are to be deleted.
Therefore, when a shortage of hard disk capacity has occurred, unnecessary program data can be immediately selected and deleted, and program data, such as the latest music content, can be promptly stored on the hard disk.
Further, since reproduction frequency information is obtained based either on the time whereat the program data was reproduced or the number of times whereat the program data was reproduced, appropriate information to be used as a determination reference for erasing data from the hard disk can be provided for the user.
In addition, to achieve the objective according to the invention, a method for erasing program data stored on a recording medium comprises the steps of:
reproducing program data to calculate a variety of information; and
based on the variety of information, displaying on display means reproduction frequency information for each set of program data, and erasing from the recording medium program data that is selected by a user employing the reproduction frequency information.
According to the thus arranged program data erasing method of the invention, reproduction frequency information is calculated for each set of program data by using a variety of information that is obtained (updated) when the program data is reproduced by the reproducing means. After the reproduction frequency information and the identification information for identifying the program data have been displayed on the display means, the user is requested to select the program data to be erased.
With this arrangement, the user need only visually confirm the reproduction frequency information to efficiently select program data to be deleted.
Therefore, when for the hard disk a shortage of record capacity on the hard disk has occurred, unnecessary program data can be immediately selected and deleted, and program data, such as the latest music content, can be promptly stored on the hard disk.